The Role of a Deacon — Matthew 16

0:00 The words that you would have. It's in your son's precious name that we pray. Amen. Okay. Let's get started quickly.

0:06 I got a long way to go. Short time to get there. There's gonna be handouts for you at the end of the slides. If you want them, that's fine. But if you have to go back and reference, I apologize for moving along.

0:17 But here we go. Does anybody need me to figure out or or can you anybody figure out who that famous quote is from? Anybody got an idea here? From Jesus? Anybody else?

0:33 Anybody else? That's right. It's the Lord Jesus. We're gonna look at that real well. So the question is this, if the Lord said, I will build my church, do you figure that it's fair to believe that not only we build it, but he will organize it as well?

0:49 Is that a reasonable assumption? Yes. I think we're gonna talk about that at length today, heading up to this talk about deacons. We're gonna get there today, but I want you to understand this is where we're headed. Okay?

1:04 So in the beginning, I'm not gonna start at Genesis, but there is a beginning, a first mention of the church in the New Testament. Okay? And it's Matthew chapter 16 verses 13 to 18. And if you'll allow me, I'm not gonna read all the verses that are gonna go up here today, but this is important to get started with. Matthew 16 verse 13.

1:26 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, who do men say that I am? The son... Who do men say that I, the son of man, am? So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am?

1:47 Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Very important passage church is used in the New Testament, it's this Greek word ekklesia. It means a called out group or an assembly.

2:25 Okay? I'm not gonna give you the Greek like John can give you the Greek. We'll leave that to him. Maybe we'll bring him back and tune tune it up for me here. But essentially, it's always this.

2:34 So many times we hear a word in the New Testament and it's translated, you know, several different ways. And deacon is one of them going forward, but it is this this way translated all the time in the New Testament. Okay. This is what the Lord said. This is what Peter testified to.

2:54 That he is the Christ, he is the Son, and he is God. Okay. Those are important things for us to figure... To remember. Okay.

3:03 He said, Simon Bar Jonah, he means Simon son of Jonah, I now call you Peter, which means stone. Okay? There's a little confusion if you if you know that. But he's saying, not... You used to be Simon because of the confession you've made, you are now Peter.

3:21 Okay? It it reflects a changed life. Simon to Peter, a new life. Okay? He says not flesh and blood.

3:29 Flesh and blood, meaning you weren't taught this by your daddy, the flesh. You weren't taught this through the blood, meaning the history of the Jewish nation. The history that he had. This is not where it came from. It came from my Father in Heaven.

3:43 Father in Heaven is always considered a spiritual being. He's never a man. Okay? He revealed that to Peter. Somehow Peter now understood something that nobody had understood or we have record of having confessed before this.

4:00 He says, upon this rock, and this is a very important thing, on this rock, what is the rock? The rock is the confession that he made. Let me repeat that. It's real important. Upon this rock, upon your confession, upon what you just said Peter, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

4:19 That's where he's gonna build his church. If you make that confession, if you have made that confession, you are part of the church. Okay? If you have not, you are not part of the church. Even though you are here in this building, the church is made up of beings.

4:39 Okay? The Lord Jesus is the head of the church. We could talk about that a long time. But understand that this is confession. And then this next important truth.

4:51 Who builds the church? Who builds the church? Is it the pastor? Is it the elder? Is it the the father and the mother?

5:02 No. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord says, I will build my church in the gates of Hades of hell. Will not prevail against it. Okay?

5:12 Okay. So there's the big question. If you hear nothing less else the rest of today, you need to hear this question. Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus?

5:25 Not who do others say He is. Not who have you heard He is. Not who does the book or the news say He is. But who do you say he is? Who do I say is?

5:41 That's the most important question, in my humble opinion, that you can have in your life. You need to answer that question. I I would hope that you would answer that question that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And He's my Savior and my Lord. Okay.

6:14 Five verse one, he says, the elders who are among you I exhort. I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also partaker of the glory that will be revealed. And then John, in second John and third John, to begin with, John writes this, the elder to the elect lady. And then he says, the elder to the beloved Gaius. Okay.

6:42 These gentlemen are near the end of their lives. Peter and John wrote long after things had happened with the Lord, long after you know they were at the day of Pentecost. I think they believed that the Lord was coming back before the end of their lives. So should we. However, near the end of their lives they wrote some reflections.

7:06 They wrote some letters. And this is this is what they are saying near the end of their life. They said, I'm not just an apostle, but I'm an elder. Okay. I'm part of the church.

7:18 Okay. And they are saying, not only was I apostle, I'm part of the elect. We know that they're writing to those that have been scattered out of Jerusalem. Right? Because of the persecution they received.

7:33 We know that they're among the flock. They're not above the flock. You get this impression that they're participating in what we would call the church. Okay? A fully developed, an operating, a working church is where they are saying, I am now an elder.

7:49 I participate with others. I... It's relative to plurality. They are among the church. Okay.

7:58 So the Lord said this, right? We started here. This is where we need to keep going. I will build my church. Right?

8:05 And then we see that near the end of their lives, Peter and John, both apostles, would say and refer to themselves as elders. Part of the church. Part of the leadership of the church. Part of the oversight. Part of the overseers.

8:23 Okay. How did we get from this point, I will build my church, the Lord is still alive. He was talking to Peter and John among others there. And it was recorded by Matthew. And he says, I will build my church upon what?

8:40 Upon this confession. You are the Messiah, the son of the living God. On this foundation, we stand. On this foundation, we build. On this foundation, on that confession, I will build my church.

8:56 It's a very circuitous route to get there. Okay? It was a progressive revelation here. It... They...

9:03 He said, I will build my church, but then there's certain things that are revealed. You could imagine them saying, we're the ones that are called out. We're the ones that you have asked us to follow. You're the ones that have been with you all this time. So it must be about us.

9:18 Right? Well, let's talk about that. Let's hear some lessons from Gethsemane. The first passage from Gethsemane. Right?

9:27 They come to arrest Jesus. And what happens? We know from John that Peter takes out his sword. Why was he carrying a sword? I don't know.

9:35 Where did he get it from? I don't know. But he's carrying a sword thinking, this is the time I'm gonna need this. And he takes a swing at Malcus. Right?

9:42 Or swing at somebody, and he cuts Malcus's ear off. The Lord repairs it. But then they do what? He says, oh, oh, this... Let it happen.

9:51 This is the scriptures must be fulfilled. Right? The scriptures must be fulfilled. And they arrest him and take him away. And what's the result of that?

10:01 Right here. All the disciples forsook him and fled. Okay. How about the next one? How about the lesson at Golgotha?

10:11 Right. It says, when they come to the place called Calvary, there they did what? They crucified him between two between two criminals. His acquaintance's women followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching, going, what has happened? And then, the lesson from Emmaus.

10:37 They walked along with him on the road to Emmaus. And they didn't understand him. They didn't see him for who he was until at the end he had... Revealed himself in a way, and then he was gone. So does this sound like he's gonna lead them?

10:55 I don't think so. This whole process of separation. Can you imagine? To see him betrayed and arrested. To see him crucified, Publicly humiliated.

11:06 Okay? And then to meet him on the road. To hear of him having been on the road. And and, but to see him gone. He was bodily resurrected.

11:14 What is going on? Not long after that, he ascends into heaven. So, was it going to be about an earthly kingdom? No. They thought it was.

11:29 This was about earthly power. Right? What do we do when when we have to exert power here on earth? We take out a sword. We grab a gun.

11:38 We march tanks across the border. Whatever it is, it's about power. Right? Not this one. It's not an earthly kingdom.

11:59 This church that I am building is not going to be built on man's ways, man's techniques, man's principles. Okay. So maybe it's gonna be about 12 leaders. Right? It's not about one leader.

12:12 It could be like a democracy. Right? Now we we had 12. We're down to 11. So what's the next thing they do?

12:19 They say, hey, we better replace that guy. Alright? And end up they throw lots. So they they say, who's been with us this whole time? Who knows what we know?

12:32 Who is the closest to us other than us 11? And they said, you know what? It's these two guys. Let's roll the bones. See how it comes out.

12:42 Who's the guy? Well, it ends up becoming... The lot falls to Matthias or Matthias. I'm sorry. Matthias.

12:50 Okay? Now, that might be one way to discern the Lord's will. Right? They read scripture. It seemed to point in this direction.

12:58 They looked at two guys. It seems like a right idea. You know, sort of like the best way to go and they throw the the dice and it comes up. It's Matthias. That must be the way to go.

13:08 Right? Do you think that's the way that the Lord wanted us to discern his will? I don't think so. Okay? You never see about this again.

13:17 Now I'll just pause for a second and say, I've heard and I've I've been taught and I've heard some things about that 12, those 12 will have a special place in heaven. I can't prove that, but I'm gonna believe it. But that's not the purpose of our discussion here. We're talking about how is the Lord building his church and not just building it, but organizing it. Okay?

13:41 So Acts chapter two comes along. What's the next thing that happens? The Holy Spirit marches in. Right? With a rush and a roar.

13:51 And all of a sudden, what do we see? Not one guy, not 12, but many speaking in languages formerly unknown by them so that people understood. It was a work of God. No other explanation could make sense out of this. Okay?

14:13 Oops. The next thing was Acts chapter 10. This is a story of Cornelius. Right? Do you remember who Cornelius is?

14:24 Cornelius is a Roman soldier Gentile referred to as dogs. Right? If there was one individual that represented not the Jewish plan, okay? Not what God's people were. It was a Roman.

14:42 If there was one Roman that was depicted as the person who depicted Rome to the Jews, it was a centurion, A leader of 100 or more. I understand. This guy was powerful. He was power. And he said, I believe in the Lord.

15:01 Tell me more about it. Peter goes, witnesses to him, and what happens? The Holy Spirit shows up again. Well now wait a minute. It's not about casting lots.

15:13 It must be about this great power of the spirit. Right? And and it's not just about the Jewish people. It's about everybody. It's about Jews and Gentiles.

15:25 What is going on here? And then finally, in Acts chapter six. We're gonna go back there a little bit later and talk a little bit more about this in detail. However, we know that it wasn't just about these special 12 again. Right?

15:40 The 12 were working and they said, you know what? We need to find those filled with the Holy Spirit. And they will minister to these widows. We'll go back here and talk a little bit more detail about that. But the point is there's this delegation here.

15:57 Okay? This idea that it's not just about one man. It's not just about a few. It's not about man at all. It's about the Holy Spirit.

16:06 Okay? We had, you know, imagine Peter and John at this time going through this. They saw the Lord. They walked with the Lord. They heard Him say, I'll build my church.

16:18 And then, they seen him humiliated. They see him ascend into heaven, and they think, well it's up to us. And they go back and they try to figure that out. And all of a sudden, this just keeps rolling in. The Holy Spirit just keeps showing up.

16:34 And then they start trusting and saying, it's about the Spirit. The Spirit's gonna lead. The Spirit can lead us, and it can lead these seven. And it can lead the church. Okay?

16:47 A work of the spirit. So we're building our foundation upon the confession. Not an earthly kingdom, not man's ways. And now, it's a leadership of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is gonna be involved in leading the church.

17:03 Okay? So so now we would say, oh, that means there's no leadership. It's just all about the spirit. Right? Maybe it's just, you know, everybody for themselves.

17:14 Anarchy or I don't know what you would call that. But is it no leaders? Is that really what we're headed towards? I don't think so. Acts chapter 13.

17:22 This is when Saul and Barnabas were sent out. Remember it said that others were meeting with them. Right? They they were talking amongst themselves. And and several of them came to the conclusion, didn't they?

17:36 That you know what? I think the Lord's telling me that you and you should be going out. You should be telling this story to others. And so the first evangelistic tour goes out. Remember before that, the people that were scattered were scattered mostly out of Jerusalem.

17:53 Right? And they went out and they just scattered out and they were in different places. But now, this is a different technique. Now Paul and Barnabas are going to walk out and start telling people. Not that it hadn't happened before that, but it's a significant move that they're going to now evangelize.

18:10 It's their specific purpose led by the Spirit to go make converts. Okay? Acts chapter 14. After they did that, what did they do? It says they went back and they did what?

18:25 They appointed elders or they recognized elders in those local churches. Acts chapter 20. We know that when Paul was headed back along the way, he called for the... It was in Miletus. He called for the elders of Ephesus.

18:46 He had been there before, had made a tour. He wanted to see them and he told them, listen to me, I will see you no more. And they wept and they they cried on each other's shoulders. And they said, we want you. And he said, no, no, no.

19:00 You guys have everything you need. But we know, we see now that the recognized elders, there were others that were recognized. Specifically set up for the purpose of the church. Okay? You see this progression?

19:13 Are you following my progression? And then finally, we see this where Titus, he tells Timothy and Titus, as a matter of fact, Paul writes these letters and said, Timothy, this is what I have for you to do. Titus, what I have for you do? Go and find the elders in the churches that you're at. Go and find them.

19:33 It's important. So the spirit is now organizing. We'll call this organization. I think I hit all those topics, so I'm just gonna keep moving along. So, you are the Messiah.

19:59 Individual meetings. Individuals where Paul had been, had evangelized. He knew there were believers there. And he left them to work on their own. The Lord was going to provide leadership for those assemblies.

20:11 Okay? He went back and he said, it's gonna be these guys. Then later on in in in the New Testament and later on in history, if you will, Paul said, now listen, I did it. Maybe he was even saying to Timothy, do you remember when we did it? Do you were part of that?

20:27 You watched that happen? Or to Titus, remember I told you that story of how when we went back, we looked for elders and found them. It's your turn. I can't be there. It's not about me.

20:40 It's about the spirit and the local elders are going to to care for this assembly, for those assemblies that you are going and ministering to. Okay. Local leadership. Here we go back to Acts chapter six. Okay.

21:00 You remember this. Right? I'll read it just so that we make sure that we get it. It says, now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists. That's those from Judea versus those from with Greek background.

21:16 Because their widows were being, were neglected in the daily distribution. You know, the church is growing greatly and there's people there. Widows need help. Then the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

21:42 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Then the word of God spread. This is important. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. It's as if the Lord was putting His stamp of approval here.

22:02 This was a good thing, And then you see the growth. Okay? So here we have the church in transition. Okay? It's transitioning and and things are changing rapidly.

22:15 First of all, it's multiplying in size. A great number of people. And you talk, you hear a story, you read the stories about thousands coming to the Lord and many, many coming. There's a dispute that rises. You put that many people together, there's bound to be disputes.

22:30 They did it this way, should have been done that way. We know people. Right? So the complexity was changing as well. This is before Cornelius and before, you know, they realized the Gentiles.

22:43 But this is just the Jewish people, those of Jewish faith. Okay? They came from different lands, maybe spoke different languages, were having this dispute. Okay? And they said, look, this is important.

22:55 It needs to get done right, and we need to find seven folks that can help this out. I don't know why they picked seven. Is it the magic match number? I don't know. Is it is it a holy number, seven days?

23:08 Let's not spend a lot of time on that. I think it was seven times because... Or seven people because they had seven different locations, factions, languages. I don't know. Something along that line.

23:20 But they chose seven. It was specific for that purpose. Okay? And it says that not desirable to leave their given role. And then the blessing happened that we talked about.

23:29 So here's the problem. What's the problem we're talking about here? What's the big problem? The widows aren't getting fed. Right?

23:41 I don't agree. Okay? I set you up for that one. Don't... I'm sorry.

23:46 The big problem was it was not desirable for the apostles. They said, it's not desirable that we leave our role. We need to be in prayer and ministry of the word. That's the big problem. It wasn't that they couldn't solve it.

24:03 It's that they chose not to solve the problem. They prioritized and said, this is not good. If I go serve tables, if I go solve this problem, the widows are important. Can we all agree? Particularly in that time, a widow had no support unless she was supported by her family or by the gracious gift of somebody else.

24:27 Okay? A widow didn't work. A widow was by herself. If she wasn't cared for, that's very important. We all agree that's really important.

24:36 But the apostles didn't think it was that important. Why didn't they think it was that important? Because they thought something else was more important. That's a really important thing to realize. And what's more...

24:52 What's also important is to say, I not only think this is important, I am going to let somebody else do it. I mean, I'm the worst person to talk about this. Okay? I can do a lot of things. One of the gifts that the Lord has given me is to be able to do a lot of things on a great spectrum of...

25:13 I can talk from accounting to operations. I know safety to, you know, I got a lot of things that the Lord's given me, and I always want to solve the problem. And I got to believe the apostles had some of that in them too. But they came together as the 12 and said, you know what? This is important.

25:35 And we trust the Holy Spirit because of what we've seen. We're gonna trust the Holy Spirit. And these men that are... Have the full of the Holy Spirit, they will be able to do it. We trust the the Spirit.

25:50 So here's the solution. Right? We had a problem and we talk about the solution. Right? This is a little bit repetitive, but to put it in paper or put it on there so you can look at it this way.

26:01 What was the role of the apostles? They said it's important. I think they had more than this, but what they said, this is important. If this takes us away from prayer and ministry of the word, it's not okay. So they...

26:13 God provided a solution. What was the solution? To find seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Okay? Problem.

26:29 Solution. Let's talk about the elders. Because we know that Peter went from being an apostle, never stopped being an apostle. He he would identify as an elder late in life, part of the church. We saw that Paul said, in the church, elders should be their local leadership.

26:51 So now we're talking about the elders in the church today. What is the responsibility of the elders in the local church? Well I think there's two passages that say it best. There's more we could, we're not here to spend a lot of time on getting the exact definition of what exactly the role is today. But if you read Acts chapter 20 and Titus chapter one, you'll come up with this list or I came up with this list you could add to it.

27:17 Take heed to yourselves. Take heed to the flock. Shepherd the church. Watch. Remember.

27:22 Support the weak. Hold fast the faithful word. Exhort and convict with sound doctrine. Rebuke sharply. That's the responsibility of the elders.

27:31 Okay? Given to them. Explained by Paul in these passages. So let me let me just back up for half a second. So the question is, if if this is what the elders should be doing, and there's something that takes them away from that, is that a problem?

27:56 If we go back here, we would say the apostles thought it was a problem. They demonstrated that it was a problem. It needed to be taken care of. Right? So if we're in the church today, and we say the elders have this responsibility.

28:11 Should the elders decide? You know what? We'll do half of it. We'll we'll we'll we'll say we don't want to do part of it. Or will they say, we'll try and do all of it and some?

28:26 Or what? But at some point, the elders have a responsibility. This is my opinion. And I'm making this argument, and you have the opportunity to question me, and we will provide answers later today. But I'm making this argument that if the elders get to the point where they say, we can't handle all this.

28:45 That is a problem. So we have a problem. Do you think God provides solutions? Well, we saw it here. I think he does.

28:56 I think deacons is the solution. Okay, to that problem. If the elders can't handle everything and more is needed, the deacons are provided. Go to Titus chapter one again you'll see the qualifications of deacons and they come out looking something like this. First Timothy would also provide information related to that.

29:22 Reverent, not double tongue, not given him much wine. This... I want to apologize now. Okay? When you thought we were gonna talk about deacons today, you probably thought we were gonna start here.

29:35 Didn't you? Didn't somebody? I don't know. You probably thought we were gonna start here and I think that's a mistake. Okay?

29:41 That's why I went back to the beginning, so to speak, and built the foundation to understand why we do what we do, why we want to do what we want to do, how the Lord is leading us, how the Lord led the church. Okay? So so here's the deacons. Understand that. Understand Timothy, Titus, go out and look for him.

30:03 This is what you're looking for. This this is the pattern. Okay? Now let's go back and let's determine what the role is, right. Because we have the role of the the Apostles, the elders, and now the deacons, Okay?

30:20 So what passage do we go to for that? It is not one. That's the problem we run into. This, my friends, is where we all get stumbled upon. This is part of the problem where we say, well, don't know what they're supposed to do.

30:40 The the Bible is largely silent on the subject of what they're supposed to do. So, is it a spiritual work that they're supposed to do? I don't know. But, if you look at this list, it is a spiritual man that does the work. Okay?

30:58 It's relatively silent except for the definition of deacon, which is a servant. In this case, a servant of the church. A servant of the church. We'll come back to that. So, there's a problem and a solution.

31:16 A need and a provision. Okay? If you look over here, do you think that of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom could be belabored into this? In other words, isn't this another description of that? So I think it is.

31:32 It's a pattern. It's a growth. It's Paul saying, look, this is what we said, but let me add a little bit to it. Let me make sure you understand it a little bit better. Let's move on.

31:42 So we have you're the Messiah, not man's ways, leadership of the Holy Spirit, local leadership, and then finally, the local leadership. But it starts somewhere. Right? There was nobody in Philippi until Paul showed up that believed. And then he led those that were going there.

32:01 But he went through his circuit. Right? And he saw converts at each one of those locations. And then he went back and said, you know what? It's not about me anymore.

32:11 It's not about Paul. I'm not here to lead them. I'm gonna hand it off now to whom? The local leadership. Those who are gonna stay there with that assembly, with that group.

32:21 To the elders. Okay? So there's a transitional period. It may have been the evangelist, it could have been those that maybe started a meeting. Maybe it was a group that went some way, somewhere else and they started some things.

32:33 And at some point, it has to hand off from those that are just starting, to those that are going to care for the flock. If needed and at the time that's necessary, deacons are added on top of that. Okay? If, when you get to the point where the elders can no longer handle the role, it's up to the deacons to fill that role. Alright.

33:12 This is easy way to do it. Right? This is the org chart of the church. Would you agree with that? The father's on the top.

33:20 The son reports to him. This holy spirit reports to the son. The pastor reports to the spirit because he's the one that's got the spirit. You know what? Most or a lot of places like to combine these two, the pastor and the elder, they're the same thing and they're they are the ones that understand quickly or or best what the spirit is leading.

33:43 Delegation to the deacons who who lead the men who are responsible to rule the women and their children well. Isn't is does that sound like what you've read in the Bible? I don't think so. Not what we see in the Bible. What the Bible teaches us, and this is my picture.

34:04 Okay? Bear with me because this is the way my mind works, but this is how I see it. Okay? The Bible calls us sheep. Okay?

34:12 Who have gone astray. Each one of us. Okay? And by the way, we had sheep for a time. This is not a compliment, folks.

34:24 Sheep are not smart animals. Okay? Matter of fact, we've had a vet and we've heard other people say sheep will find any reason to die. They just go looking for one. Okay?

34:35 They will wander away and they get lost. But the sheep is intended to follow the Chief Shepherd. That's I think the way the Bible explains it to us. That we're to follow the Shepherd because the Lord says, I will build my church. The sheep within it are gonna follow me.

34:52 I'm the Good Shepherd. We went through all that with C. Price, didn't we? But that little sheep is not too good on its own. What it really needs is a lot of sheep around it.

35:06 Now sheep have three modes of operation. Okay? One, they're at peace. And when they're at peace, they're doing one of two things. Well no, they're doing one thing.

35:17 It's called eating. That's what they do. They eat and they raise babies and they grow wool and you can use all of that for good purpose. Right? When they're eating they usually have their head down and they're grazing.

35:32 Or they have their body down and they're chewing their cud. It's just part of their digestive system. They hawk that thing back up and gnaw on it. Right? And then they swallow it again and do it again and you can feel that.

35:44 If you ever ever felt a sheep's neck, it goes up and down and up and down. It's really gross, but be that as it may. A sheep is at rest when it's eating. When it can feed. It does well feeding that.

36:00 The second mode of a sheep is when they're alert. Something happens when when you walk into the field and they don't expect you. When somebody comes into the field or a sound happens and the sheep, what do they do? It's like, it's hard to believe. It's like they all have a string on their neck.

36:15 But all their necks go up. And their eyes go open. Is this true? See? They all their necks go up and their eyes go open and they're like, woah, let's look around.

36:25 It's uncanny how they do it. They all know together. But that's the safety. One sees it and they tell everybody else without even seeing anything. That's what happens.

36:34 And that's why sheep, among other reasons, why sheep need to be amongst each other. Why it's important for us as a body to be together. Why it's important that people come together as the church. Because then we all can protect one another. We all see something and tell one another.

36:53 Okay? So let's talk about this little church here. Okay? This little church of mine. I'm...

36:59 No, that's not right. So I wanted to talk about these little... These issues here. Let's first talk about gifting. Okay.

37:07 We know about gifting. We've heard a lot about gifts in the last couple years. Right? Everybody's given a gift from the Lord. Right?

37:14 Some are pastors. Some are teachers. Some have the gift of administrations. Right? Some are evangelists.

37:24 You like how I tattooed them on their backsides there, but so they would know. Right? But and then others have the gift of helps. But everybody, and that's not a definitive list. But you get the idea.

37:35 Everybody has a gift. The Lord has given everyone a gift for the purpose of using it. Okay? Now, do you notice? Which one of the boys and which one of the girls?

37:49 Can tell? But some of them are pastors and some of them are evangelists and some of them, I don't know. There's only one way to know. We'll put the pink dot right on top of some of them? Okay?

38:03 But but look at that. All of the gifting happens. It's not about men and women have separate gifts or men or women. It's about the Lord giving gifts. And it's dispersed amongst the ladies and amongst the gentlemen.

38:19 Okay. And this is provided for the purpose of service. Now there's service and there's service. Okay? We talk about service.

38:30 Service is starting a hospital in Westlake called St. John's or something like that. You can serve the Lord doing that. You can serve every... A lot of people in the name of God.

38:42 When you go out into your daily walk, you're serving the Lord and you're providing testimony and witness of Him. Whether it's good or whether it's bad. That's service. Okay? But there's also this idea of being a servant.

38:55 Okay? Servant amongst the body. We serve one another. We need one another. Remember, we group together.

39:03 We all have to become. We all need to be together. A sheep by itself is not protected. A sheep together is protected, is cared for, can grow, can be at rest, can eat. Okay?

39:19 There are those that serve the body. Not just everywhere, but serve the body. They're servants. In that sense, deacon can be interpreted as servant. Okay?

39:33 So, I want you to know right now. You're all deacons. In one way or another, you are deaconing. When you're serving this body, that's the idea. This has to happen before anything else.

39:50 Get this right. We had to build this foundation. We had to come this far to make sure that we're all gathered together and that everybody has a gift and everybody has a service and everybody is a servant of one another. Get that right. Please get this right.

40:07 We are servants first. We serve one another. We need one another. To gather together, it's important that we serve one another because sheep don't do well on their own. They need to be together.

40:40 We all need to be alert like this sheep. That's why those sheep look like they're alert. They look like they all snapped up and went, attention. The Lord is speaking. Attention.

40:52 The chief shepherd's in the field. Attention. There's something He wants me to do. They snap to attention. They're no longer at rest.

41:04 The third mode of a sheep is running. When a sheep runs, it's not good. A sheep will run itself to death. They can't handle. It's got all that wool on.

41:18 And if a wolf or coyote or something gets in the pasture, it will run those sheep and just for sport, will run them until they... They'll just start dropping over. Falling down. Dead. Just from running.

41:34 Not a good thing. Don't be running around. Alright. Now, bring a group together like this, even of sheep. They need to be led.

41:46 And Lord knew that. Paul knew that. He went back and he appointed leaders. He appointed elders. Recognized elders.

41:58 He gifted elders. He asked some to lead and to fulfill the role that we talked about before. Now generally the elders have big targets on their chest. Okay? And that's why they're like that.

42:13 So... But he says, the word says that he would make these individuals responsible. The elders have the responsibility to answer to the Lord on your behalf. That's not a role we take lightly. It's not something that I would like to say of myself, but I have to say it today.

42:45 It's important that you know that we answer on behalf of you to the Lord. And and we intend to do just that. Not... We don't answer to you. We answer to the Lord because we have responsibility to take care of you.

43:01 And to watch out. To exhort. But we can't do it all. Okay? I'm gonna go right over here in the middle and I'm gonna tell you this right now.

43:15 That guy and this guy can't do it all. I want you to know that we have more to do than we can handle. It's important for you to understand that I trust and Andy trusts the Holy Spirit. We trust that the Lord is gonna work through all of you. We trust that the Lord will provide.

43:50 We trust that the Lord will provide because we saw him provide in his word. We've seen him provide in this body. We've seen him provide in our own lives. We testify to you today. Our God can provide.

44:20 And he is going to provide. Those that will also take a responsibility. The elders have a responsibility, and then we have responsibility all to say this is what's not getting done. This is what needs to be done. And that's where the deacon role comes in.

44:43 There's liberty for us to decide. There's responsibility for us to recognize. There is a lot for us to do. Now, I know I'm leaving you at the edge here. We're bringing you right up to the edge.

45:14 That's why we wanna have a question answered. Maybe I've gotten off. Maybe there's something I need to be corrected about. Maybe we need a little bit more understanding and teaching. I don't know.

45:24 But, we're gonna work our way through it. What's next will be revealed. The Lord will reveal it to us. So I... I'm sorry I held you a couple minutes over.

45:37 That's all I have for you today. I'm gonna close in a word of prayer. Father, it's with humble hearts that that we as a a local body, a bunch of wayward sheep, if you will, have gathered together. We know that you brought us together for a purpose. We know that there's more to it than just Sunday morning.

46:05 We know that that you have a purpose for us, Lord, and you're asking us to to take a step forward. We come to this point today. We ask that we would not back away from it, and that we would, we would step to, as it were, step into the harness that you've given us, into the yoke that you are pulling, with us on the other side, and we're grateful for that, Lord, to know that you're there. So we we thank you for this, and you know our hearts, Lord. You know many things else...

46:31 Many other things that are on our hearts, but we... We're grateful for you today. It's in your son's name that we do pray. Amen.